


When Spirits Meet

by Bloodhungrywolfpack (Sgcohn18)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Blue Spirit Zuko (Avatar), F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:42:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22246528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sgcohn18/pseuds/Bloodhungrywolfpack
Summary: Katara decided she likes being the painted lady, she likes helping people even after the war is over. She helps as many people as she can but why does she keep seeing the blue spirit while she is trying to work.
Relationships: Blue Spirit/Painted Lady, Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 265





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Oh look, Zutara

Katara doesn’t know why she kept the Painted lady costume, but whenever she encountered a village where the people were being oppressed, she swooped in to use less than ladylike means to fix it. It had been a while since she had seen her group of friends. It had been close to three weeks since she had last seen them. They would be meeting in Ba Sing Se for a meeting of the heads of tribes in four weeks. 

She still liked helping out when she was passing through villages, especially while she traveled. But some consequences came with being the head of the south. If people knew she was getting involved it could cause further conflict.

As time went on, she began to notice someone else with the same idea as her. A man in a blue spirit mask, they would correct a problem with saying a word to each other, then disappear and not see each other again for an undetermined amount of time. This has been going on for four years and she never thought to say a word to him.

She always found it Ironic when they were working in the same village or town because Katara did know the original legends. In the Legends of the painted lady and the blue spirit, they were always shown as lovers. She found it funny but never gave it much thought.

She had been clearing some scum out of a peaceful farming village when she saw him again. Well not exactly saw. She had been fighting hard against some raiders who had threatened to burn half the fields if the village didn’t pay them a ‘protection’ fee.

She had just kicked a man in the face when she felt someone grab her by the hips and throw her high into the air. She looked down and saw the blue spirit duck standing on top of a boulder that now rested where she had once stood. She landed beside him and heard him pull out his signature twin blades. She gave a small smile from under her hat. 

Katara used blood bending to throw each of the men in different directions. She was still not fond of blood bending, but it added to the performance of being the painted lady. What was more supernatural than throwing people without touching them. 

Katara and the blue spirit picked up their usual rhythm. He began knocking out assailants one after another. Meanwhile, she threw back those they weren’t ready to deal with and pulled forward new assailants to be taken care of by the blue spirit. 

Katara pulled one man forward and high kicked him in the face, letting his body sail backward from the force of her kick alone. Once the rabble had been taken care of, she noticed that one was still conscious. The Blue Spirit moved to knock him out. She placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.

\-----

Zuko didn’t understand why the painted lady had stopped him, but he knew better than to question her. He kept his swords drawn, just in case. He watched her kneel before the injured man and for the first time in his life. Zuko heard her speak.

“Why have you disturbed this village?” She asked him softly. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar, he couldn’t place it, but he is sure that he knows it.

“These villagers should have thought about receiving protection if they didn’t want to be raided.” The man sneers up at her.

“Ah, I wasn’t aware that living in peace and working for your food automatically sent out an invite for people to come and ruin it.” Her voice had a little laugh in it as she spoke.

The painted lady stood and kicked the man she had been speaking to right in the head. This time he was unconscious. He vaguely heard her mumble ‘shit head’ before they began their cleanup work. 

They gathered the men around the boulder that had been thrown earlier in the fight and they removed anything from the men’s clothing that could be used to tie them up. They tie each man’s hands behind their backs then tied the men’s hands altogether. 

They each pulled a note out of their clothes. The noted were pre-written and each said pretty much the same thing. 

‘These criminals have been apprehended by _______. They should be given to the authorities as soon as possible.’

It was a little short in his opinion, but it got the job done and sent the appropriate message. The painted lady rose from tying the last of the knots. She turned to him and he looked at her through the holes of his mask. He decides to do something he has never done before.

Zuko placed his swords back in their scabbard and placed one hand on his abdomen and one out to the side. He gave her a deep bow before turning and disappearing into the woods.

He ran until he reached his campsite. He was technically on vacation for the four weeks preceding the meeting in Ba Sing Se. He wanted to spend some time alone in the wilderness as he had when he was younger. He had changed the system in the Fire Nation to democracy. He didn’t particularly want to lead, and it would probably help prevent another event like the 100-year war from happening again. 

He now served as the Advisor to the king, which meant that he was also often sent to the meetings of all his old friends on behalf of the Fire Nation. Plus, whenever he had time off he could go help people and if he was lucky, see his lady. His heart was still pounding from having heard her voice. It was like listening to a siren song. So enticing but if he continued to listen he would be doomed. 

Though he would not protest to hearing it again.

\-----

Katara’s face was as red as the paint she wore. She hadn’t expected him to do something like that. She had tried to lower and smooth out her voice as she had spoken but she isn’t sure that it worked. She tried not to speak but every once in a while, the people to detained had a good reason. This was not one of those time.

She walked back to her campsite to change back into her normal clothes. Now that she had finished up in the village, she could get some sleep. Katara lay in her sleeping bag, staring up at the stars as she thought.

The blue spirit pulled a bold move today. But then again, so had she. She thought about the way he moved as he fought and thought back to her days fighting the fire nation. She had seen the last person she had been this interested in since then. 

The disgraced prince had been quite a bit of fun to mess with, but they had also had a strong emotional connection. After the war had ended, he had needed to go back to the fire nation to sort out the problems left behind by his father. She hadn’t really spent time with him since. They had seen each other briefly at meetings and ceremonies, but it always seemed like they both had so much to do.

Even after he had stepped down as Fire Lord, she had just been appointed to be one of the village chiefs and had responsibilities of her own. She did miss him and every time she saw the blue spirit, it only reminded her more of him. 

She sighed and rolled over in her sleeping bag as she drifted off to sleep.


	2. the meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team avatar is together again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, the chapter is short. I would prefer to post small chapters more often, than long chapters every once in a while.

The head of tribes meeting went exactly as Katara expected. There was a lot of bickering, quite a bit of pointless logistics, and no one can forget the proposals. The entire affair makes the idea of taking a cheese grater to one’s forehead sound highly appealing.

As much as Katara hated the meetings, she would always volunteer to be the elder to go. It was the one event a year where she knew for a fact that every member of team avatar would be present. They all went as representatives of their different nations and groups. 

Katara on behalf of the southern water tribes. 

Sokka on behalf of the northern water tribes.

Zuko on behalf of the fire nation.

Suki on behalf of the earth kingdom.

Toph is always on the security detail.

Aang on behalf of republic city and the combined interests of the world.

There were, of course, other representatives from each nation, but they were always happiest to see each other.

To say that the get together after the meeting was the best part, would be an understatement. The old gang got together to eat and chat. They caught up and talked about their lives. For the last four years, Zuko had been unable to make it to their little party. 

This year is different though. This year they had confirmation that he would be there. Katara didn’t know if she had ever been more excited for their get together to start. 

\-------

Zuko stared at his reflection in the mirror. He a lock of his hair down to lay directly in his face. He looked down at his hands before looking back at his reflection and blowing the lock of hair.

He pulled all of his hair up into a bun and tied it in place. Zuko stared in the mirror for a long moment before pulling out the tie and letting his mid-back length hair flop over his shoulders and in his face. 

He pushed his hair out of his face and let go only to watch it fall back into its previous position. He sighed and dragged his hands down his face.

Why should he care what his hair looks like? He has known these people for so many years. They don’t care what his hair looks like. Katara might care. She had already seen his hair in its old bun earlier during the meeting. Why should it matter how he wears it for the party? 

No matter how many times he tried to tell himself that he looked fine, he couldn’t help but feel he could do better. Eventually, he decided to pull the top half of his hair into a bun and leave the rest down. It looked good. Even if it didn’t, it would have to do because he is already running late for the party.

Upon arriving, Zuko was greeted warmly by his friends. He gave and received hugs from everyone who had already arrived. He had thought since he showed up late, that he would be the last one to arrive. He was wrong.

Katara had yet to make an appearance. 

“Where is Katara?” He asked Sokka.

“Oh, you know how girls are. They take forever to make sure they look absolutely perfect.” Sokka replied.

“I didn’t know you were a girl, Sokka!” Toph interjected.

“That joke stopped being funny seven years ago, Toph!” Sokka yelled as he chased after the blind woman. She turned on him and used his own momentum to trip him and pin him to the ground. “Toph! You’re getting my tunic dirty!” She moved to sit on his back with a foot on each of his wrists.

“Again, who is the one obsessed with how they look?” Toph asks him. 

Zuko turns his attention away from the now-familiar scene. He knows how this plays out, and as funny as it is to watch, he has bigger fish to fry. He turns to look at the front door where Katara stands, looking absolutely beautiful in the blues of her tribe. 

He notices that she still wears her mother’s engagement necklace. He remembers with a slight blush the days before he knew her when he had put the necklace on her. It was many years before he was told, by the woman herself, what the gesture had meant.

How was he supposed to know that he had accidentally proposed to a girl he barely knew? No one had ever bothered to tell him of the water tribe tradition before he had decided to go and do it. 

That was all in the past. Though there were some days when he wished he could make the gesture again on purpose this time. Though before he could do that, he had to get his jaw off the floor and have a conversation with the beautiful dark-skinned girl.

He watched her make her rounds greeting all their friends and exchanging hugs with each of them. She finally got around to him and he couldn’t be happier.

“Hello, Katara. Long-time no see.” He pulled her to him. They wrapped their arms around each other and lingered a little longer in each other’s embrace than they had with any of their other friends.

“It’s good to see you after so long. I thought you had decided that you didn’t want to hang out with us anymore.” She teased.

“I would never dream of it.” He replied, tilting his head down towards her. “Shall we join our friends in their merrymaking?” She gave a nod and he began to move forward. He stopped when he felt and hand on his bicep.

“It’s really is nice to see you again.” She says. He doesn’t know why but it feels like she means something different than the first time she said it. He smiles and they move together towards the rest of their friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr is: bloodhungrywolfpack


	3. Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party has ended but no one should have to walk home alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here be a thing

“Make sure they get back to their room safely” Katara yells after them.

“We will!” Aang calls back. He and Toph each have one member of the only married couple over their shoulders. Aang has Sokka. Toph has Suki.

“You would think after all these years they would be able to hold their alcohol better,” Zuko says from her side. 

“You would think.” Katara sighs.

“Can I walk you back to your room?” He asks her.

“I’m staying a little far away this year.” She tells him.

“I don’t mind.” He looks up and away from her, but she can see a small blush on his cheeks. 

“Then I guess we had better start walking.” She says. “How have you been these past few years?”

“Good! Pretty good. You know. Being an advisor to the king. We were trying to figure out how an election system would work for the past few years. This is my first real break in a long time.” He tells her. 

“You weren’t over working yourself, were you?” She asks. She grabs a hold of his wrist and stops him from walking.

“No, I wasn’t. That’s why it took so long. I knew you would yell at me if I over worked myself.” He looks down at her. They stare at each other for a moment before she brakes eye contact and they continue walking.

“You’re right about that. You have to take care of yourself.” She pulls his arm closer to her. 

“I try.” He says.

They reach the inn she is staying at. They stop outside and look at each other.

“This is me.” She says.

“Ah, then this would be, good night.” He tries to pull away, but she doesn’t release his arm. “Katara?”

“Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?” She looks up at him from under her eye lashes. He stares at her for a long moment with wide eyes.

“I would love to.” He seems shocked at his own words. She pulled him inside, only releasing him to unlock her door.

“I have jasmine tea. Do you take sugar?” Katara asks as she makes her way to the small kitchen in the corner.

“No. I think if I did my uncle would have disowned me. Betraying the fire nation is fine but tea with sugar would be sacrilege.” They laugh at his poor imitation of his uncle Iroh.

“He was always a very kind man.” She says as she pours the tea.

“Yah…he was.” Zuko suddenly finds the floor very interesting. “I miss him.”

“I know.” She says as she brings over the tea. He smells the tea before taking a sip.

“Just like uncle made it. How?” He looks her in the eye as he takes another sip.

“Iroh came to visit the southern water tribe not long before he passed away. We talked a lot while he was there. One of the many things he taught me was the ‘proper’ way to make tea.” She made quotation marks in the air with her fingers. He laughed lightly.

“I really have missed you over these past years.” He tells her.

“I have to.” She says. They stare into each other’s eyes for what feels like an eternity. She sees his eyes flick down to her lips before meeting her eyes again.

“Would I…I mean could I…uh.” Zuko stutters. He rubs the back of his neck. “Could we…uh. You know what never mind.” He moves to stand up. She grabs his hand and stares into his eyes, pleading with him.

“Stay.” She says.

“I’m sorry.” He is out the door before she can protest again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you write fanfiction for a fandom that died years ago.


	4. When spirits worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The blue spirit and the painted lady find themselves back to back in another fight and fight out too late that they hadn't won as easily as they thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter my darling ducks. Enjoy the read. There will be no more updates.

As much as Zuko loved seeing his friends, he was glad to be back on the road. When he is on the road, he can be the blue spirit. When he is the blue spirit, he gets to beat the crap out of criminals.

If he is lucky, he may even see the painted lady.

He was taking out a group of bandits in a small village outside of Ba Sing Se when the painted lady dropped in to help. He inclined his head towards her before continuing the fight. He slashes and jabbed in a whirl of opponents. 

He could hear the distinct sound of her water bending behind him. Zuko smiled to himself. Her bending was beautiful, but there was no time to focus on that now.

Before Zuko knew it, the bandits were unconscious on the ground and tied to the most convenient tree. He turned towards the Painted Lady. He gave her a deep bow.

Zuko heard a low thunk and looked up to see the painted lady falling to the ground. One of the bandits stood behind her with a chunk of wood in his hand. Zuko withdrew his swords and slashed threw the man’s throat. He scooped up the painted lady in his arms and ran back to his camp.

That was not the first man Zuko had ever killed, but it was certainly the swiftest.

He laid the painted lady down on his sleeping roll, face down. He pulled away her large hat and began sifting through her hair, looking for the place where she had been hit.

On the right side of her head, he found the impact wound. It wasn’t deep. Zuko removed his mask to better examine it. 

She would need stitches but not many. He searched through his emergency medical pack and found what he needed. He propped her head up in his lap. He began the delicate work of cleaning and closing the wound. He wouldn’t cauterize it unless there was a risk of her bleeding out.

Zuko wrapped her head in gauze to protect the stitches and laid her on her side to rest. 

He wanted to look at her face but didn’t think she would appreciate it when she woke up if he did. He decided to gather wood for a fire to distract himself.

Zuko didn’t stray far from his campsite. In her condition, he doesn’t know how well she could defend herself. 

\--------

Katara wakes up and checks her surroundings. The last thing she remembers, the Blue Spirit was helping her tie-down some bandits. She looks around and finds herself in someone else’s bedroll. The supplies around aren’t hers either.

She tries to sit up and is forced back down by a bout of nausea and sharp pain in her head. She brings her hand up to find her head wrapped in gauze. She slowly moves her fingertips around the wrapped area until she finds the wet spot.

Katara pulls water from the canteen under her skirts and heals the head injury. The pain edges away into nothingness. She tries to sit up again, this time with no nausea. She makes her way to her feet and looks around the campsite again. 

Seeing her hat on the ground she picks it up and replaces it on her head. The materials in this campsite look like someone from the fire nation. She spots something on the ground.

Picking it up she finds that it is the blue spirit’s mask. Hearing a rustle in the leaves behind her, Katara hides the mask behind her back and turns towards the noise.

Coming through the bushes is Zuko. He is wearing the costume of the blue spirit, all except the mask. His hands are full of wood and he stares at her.

“You probably shouldn’t be standing. The wound on your head needs to heal.” He tells her. 

“I healed it.” She tells him. 

“Oh” he resumes walking towards the center of the campsite. After placing down the wood, he moves a few pieces away from the pile and sets them on fire. “This should keep you warm.”

“Thanks.” She sits down next to him. “So…The legendary former prince Zuko is the infamous Blue Spirit.” She teases.

“Yeah, not exactly what you would expect, is it?” He asks, staring into the fire.

“No, that seems exactly like something you would do.” She says. He looks at her and she pulls the hat from her head and lets her hood fall back. “I guess we were both lying when we said long time no see at the party.”

“Yah” He stares at her. “I guess we were.”

“Thanks for getting me out of there.”

“No problem.” He tears his eyes away from her. “Would you like something to eat?”

“That would be nice.”

Once they were both munching on parts of a Fox Antelope that Zuko had caught for them, Katara asked the important question.

“How long have you been the Blue Spirit?”

“As far as I know, I’m the only one to play the role.” He replies.

“So, it’s you that I’ve been fighting alongside all these years?” She asks.

“Yeah. And you are the Painted Lady I have been teaming up with?” He tells her.

“And flirting with.” She adds. His face flushes a deep red, accentuated by his scar.

“And flirting with.” He says quietly.

“It’s nice knowing that all these years when I was missing you, that you were right by my side.” She scooches closer to him and rests her head on his shoulder. “It’s almost like the spirits decided that we had to see each other again.” She turns her head up to smile at him and places a soft kiss on his cheek.

He turns to her and places his lips on hers. She is surprised for a moment before she melts into the kiss.

High in the trees around them, the real painted lady and the blue spirit exchange a fist bump before vanishing back into their own realm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wee Woo
> 
> Yay, they got together. One of my friends tried to convince me that all my stories should have the last line of 
> 
> "they got hit by a bus and both died."
> 
> You agree that would have been a way better ending, right?


End file.
